Chautauqua Lake Cleanup 2017
The Chautauqua Lake Cleanup was held on Saturday, May 21 from 8 am to 2:30pm. There were 43 volunteers who collected 61 tires, 20 cubic yards of trash and 1040 pounds mixed metals. This third annual cleanup was co-hosted by Conewango Creek Watershed Association (CCWA), Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy, Chautauqua Co. Soil and Water Conservation District and Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance. The Chautauqua Lake Fishing Association provided their property as the main staging area. They also provided coffee, doughnuts and a hot dog and hamburger lunch to the volunteers as a small thank you for their efforts. All the hosts want to thank the volunteers and sponsors for supporting this effort.
Platinum Sponsors were Chautauqua Lake Association (CLA), Rock of WNY, and the Main Landing Restaurant. The CLA participated for the first time this year and provided 2 barges, 2 dump trucks, the weed harvester and staff to operate the equipment. The barges and trucks helped us get a lot of stuff out of the Lake and transport it to our staging area at the Chautauqua Lake Fishing Association. Rock which participated for the second time, provided their barge with the crane. It was instrumental in getting some very large and heavy stuff out of the lake.
Other sponsors were Gold Sponsors: Evergreen Outfitters, United Refining Co, and Conewango Township. Bestway Container Solutions, Silver Sponsors included: Great Lakes Tree Services, Inc, Cochran & Zandi Lumber, Inc, and Stiffler & McGraw. Bronze Sponsors included: Superior Tire and Rubber Co, Donald E Lewis Funeral Home, Whirly Drink Works, Betts Industries, Warren Industrial Solutions and Voty Insurance Agency.
Sue Nielsen, board member for CCWA stated “We got some very productive volunteers both on-land and on-water. But we needed more people on the water. We had plenty of canoes. We were working in areas where the bigger boats couldn’t go so we had to collect the trash and move it out to an area where the barges could pick up the trash and tires. We needed more hands to help. We got a lot of tires and trash, but there’s still a lot out there.”
“Of course, we need to thank Chautauqua County for registering our event as an Earth Day event and disposing of the trash and tires at no cost to us. That is a critical element to any cleanup, the cost of disposal,” said Elizabeth Dropp, also a board member of CCWA.
On-land volunteers cleaned Celoron/ Lucille Ball Park, McCrea Point Park, the ball fields just off Jones and Gifford road as well as along Jones and Gifford Road itself. See photos below. 
